Here is a picture from the June 1972 issue of TV Star Parade magazine. I'm trying to identify the young lady with Ben Johnson. Her name as you can see is Felicia Roja, but I cannot find out anything about her. I've tried all kinds of search terms in Google and Yahoo and nothing comes up with her. If...

I happily agree with Donald Binks' assessment of Mr. Holmes, although a tiny part of me wonders if that particular case from the past really would affect Holmes so much that he would instantly retire. I waffle back and forth on that. I would like to add how wonderful Laura Linney is as "the housekee...

Here's the entire letter, written by Gene D. Phillips: To the Editor: George Cukor, who directed the first and third versions of ''A Star Is Born,'' confirmed in my interviews with him during his last years that John Gilbert was not the source of the character of the fading star in that story, a poi...

I recently treated myself to a set of vintage Wagon Master lobby cards, and the backs of the cards are all stamped "From the collection of Don Danard." Another stamp says "Theater Poster Exchange, Memphis, TENN." I did Google and Yahoo searches,but could not find anything about Don Danard. I wonder ...

Ann-Margret, who was born in Sweden and emigrated to the U.S. at five years old, played Medda, a vaudeville chanteuse billed as "The Swedish Meadowlark" in the 1992 Disney musical film Newsies. She used a slight Swedish accent for the role. The character has been changed to an African-American woman...

The Strand in Marietta, GA only shows The General as a projected DVD. They don't even have 35mm projection equipment in that theater. They do have a nice little theater organ so at least there was live music when I went there to see (or so I thought) The General. (My friend and I were in a bad mood ...

Sony should think about releasing some of their Columbia B-westerns on MOD discs. The Warner Archive Collection Tim Holt and Monogram collections have been a big hit with the fans, who keep begging for more. (I've bought them all and I'd do the same with a Sony set of Starretts -- and Buck Jones and...

Besides Borzage's 7th Heaven (already mentioned), there's also Lucky Star in which Charles Farrell goes off to WWI and returns crippled. In addition to the Richard Barthelmess films already listed, Heroes for Sale, in which he plays a WWI veteran who becomes addicted to pain-killing morphine in a Ge...

I'd love a box set of the Farrell-Gaynor talkies (including High Society Blues) but that should happen...never. :( The titles are: Sunny Side Up (1929) (The surprise hit of the first TCM fest) High Society Blues (1930) The Man Who Came Back (1930) Merely Mary Ann (1931) Delicious (1931) The First Ye...

Oh, and playing Watson's girlfriend in this one ??? A lady called Oona Chaplin..... . I saw Oona Chaplin in the BBC's The Hour, and she was terrific. And gorgeous. Can't wait to see her in the second season of Sherlock. http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx61/pvitari/Oona.jpg http://i742.photobucke...

The three missing major War epics of the Silent Era are First and far most THE BIG PARADE, followed by THE PATENT LEATHER KID and LILAC TIME. Someone asked at the Warner Archive Collection facebook page if the WAC was planning on releasing The Patent Leather Kid and the answer was "quite possibly!"...

Report from Kevin Brownlow's appearance last night at Emory University in Atlanta. Mr. Brownlow began reading from a prepared script and for a moment I was afraid this was going to be not as interesting as I'd hoped, but I was quickly proved wrong. His remarks about the history of his obsession with...

Kevin Brownlow will also speak at Emory University in Atlanta this Thursday, Dec. 1. The Department of Film and Media Studies, The Hightower Fund, The Department of Theater, The Department of History, and the Department of French and Italian present Kevin Brownlow speaking on "My Life with Napoleon"...

I hope Timeless will finally get around to releasing the second season of Laramie. First they released seasons 3 and 4 (the two in color) and then they released season one (black and white). But that was a while ago... still waiting on season 2. And what's taking the next season of Have Gun Will Tra...

Howard Hawks' first feature, Fazil (1928), stars Charles Farrell as an Arab prince who falls in love with a free-spirited French woman played by the gorgeous Greta Nissen. But once he brings her back to his native land, the traditional culture and his jealousy make their marriage a torture for her. ...

David Manners is wonderful in The Miracle Woman and The Last Flight. It's a pity he didn't get more roles like those. But I like him even in his "juvenile" roles. The Scarlet Street author was Rick McKay and here's a link to the interview. http://www.rickmckay.com/Rick%20McKay%20-%20David%20Manners1...

Nick Charles is not the only character from the past that Johnny Depp is, er, re-imagining. He's also scheduled to play Tonto in a new film version of The Lone Ranger. No casting announcement yet about who is playing the Lone Ranger. http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/05/08/johnny-depp-tonto-lone-ranger/

Richard, thanks for the information about Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I hope it gets a well-deserved digital restoration someday as this is such a wonderful movie. (And Jane Powell in person was wonderful too!) The "restorationist" from Paramount who talked at the screenings of the Roy Rogers f...

As Cari Beauchamp pointed out in her excellent interview with Mills after the film, it was Alan Bates’ first movie, but Hayley was already a seasoned professional. At that point Miss Mills remarked that she had forgotten how young Alan Bates was in this film (it was his first) and that he was the b...